The question is that, should DNS nameserver at registrar still work for over a month after the domain passed its expiry date ? According to my experiences in past 15+ years, registrar changed DNS nameserver for expired domains, which causes the web/email service of expired domain unavailable.
While I have as much distaste for godaddy as the next nerd, this sounds like a non-story?
He got emails and a grace period, which is as much as I expect from any budget registrar.